Moonlight
by WriteLikeThis
Summary: What if Bella had been the vampire and Edward had been the human? This is my version of how it could happen. From Bella's POV. Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight saga. I am only creating my own story using characters created by Stephanie Meyer. I have included a few ideas and quotes from her work.
1. First Day

Moonlight: First Day

"Have fun!" Carlisle shouted cheerfully as Esme and himself waved to us as we drove away. I sighed. High school. I never minded it too much but now that we were driving to our first day at our new school I realised the monotony my family and I were about to face.

"Bella, relax." Jasper warned me from the back seat. He was right; I was tense. Being vampires we were often admired by every human we encountered. So, arriving at a high school with hundreds of students who cared greatly about their appearance meant that we were stared at and whispered about a lot. I hated it where as the rest of my family didn't mind; some of them even liked it. But I hated the attention, the way we were watched... It made me feel self-conscious.

"We're going to like it here." Alice announced confidently. Clearly she'd had a vision.

"Really?" I smiled. It gave me reassurance - I could always count on Alice to make me feel better. We were getting closer to the school and my head was buzzing with an entire mix of emotion. Angst, curiosity... All for the next few years.

"Get ready guys." Emmett grinned as we drove in to the school parking lot. He and Rosalie loved this part. At our last school, people referred to them as "the perfect couple" which heightened their confidence immensely.

I found a space and parked our car. I had persuaded Rosalie in to taking a less conspicuous car than her red ferrari by saying it would focus the attention on us more. It was probably true but a) I didn't want to have something else to do with us for people to gawk at b) I wanted to drive and c) if someone asked me about our car I wouldn't know what to say as I had no knowledge about them.

"Okay, guys. This is it... Ready?" Alice spoke excitedly. We all nodded and got out of the car at the same time. For the first few seconds the groups of people outside the building didn't notice us. But just as we formed a group and started walking towards the school, people started to notice. We all went in to our human mode - fortunately I was at the back so people didn't see me as much as the others. People stopped breathing as they stared at us with wide eyes that followed us. Many people were talking and gesturing to us individually. Generally the comments that came up the most were: "They are all so perfect.", "Are they related?" and "I wish I looked like that."

It took a second for me to take all of this in and then I sunk in to the conversations with my family; ignoring the people like always.

"First we need to get our stuff." Rosalie reminded us as we entered the building and found the office on the right. We walked in and found a women sat at the desk. She gasped and her eyes fluttered around all of us until she continually looked back and forth from Jasper and Emmett. We always found it irritating when people took particular interests in one of us. Rosalie and Emmett gripped each other's hands tighter and so did Alice and Jasper. Little did the woman know that both couples were married.

After filling out a form each and collecting the stuff we needed we heard the bell and headed for class. Jasper, Rosalie and Alice were posing as sophomores and Emmett and I were being Juniors.

"Em, we have English first." I realised as I found my class schedule.

"Oh, okay. Where's that?" Emmett gave me a confused look and I fired one back. I found the map and Emmett and I made our way down the corridor to our English classroom. A few people were inside already so we chose seats at the back of the room and sat next to each other. Somehow it was worse when there were less people looking at you because it was in a more concentrated area. The people sat close to the front had literally turned right around to blatantly stare at us. Finally the rest of the students and the teacher arrived to begin the lesson.

"Now, I trust you all had a good summer. Before we start we have two new students with us today. Emmett and B-Bella." The teacher gestured to us. When he looked at me he stuttered and blinked multiple times. Emmett nudged me under the table and I could tell he was laughing at my uncomfortable expression. If I were a human, then I would have been more embarrassed but since everyone was paying close attention to us anyway it didn't change anything.

"Why don't you tell us a bit about yourselves?" I froze. It took me a quarter of a second to remember to freeze like a human instead of a vampire. I looked at Emmett helplessly and he grinned knowing that I hated it while he was loving it.

"Hi, I'm Emmett. Our family, Bella and I recently moved here from New Mexico. We are all adopted in to the same family - Rosalie, Jasper and Alice are sophomores. I like watching sports and Bella, why don't you tell them a bit about yourself?" Emmett grinned. He would pay for that.

"I like watching movies and reading. When I'm older I want to be a scientist." I plucked that out of thin air since I had biology later on. The teacher seemed satisfied with what we said and gave us the news that we were doing Romeo and Juliet. Emmett and I groaned - we had done Romeo and Juliet so many times. If someone had asked me to recite something from it I could have offered the entire play. The teacher started talking and Emmett and I payed little attention.

"Bella?" Emmett said so that no one but me could hear.

"Yeah?" I replied while I doodled on my notepad.

"That girl over there will not stop staring at me. Can you please do something?" Emmett pleaded. I looked at the girl so quickly she didn't notice. Yes, she was staring right at him.

"Well what can I do?" I wandered. He just looked at me and I looked confused and then I realised.

"They're going to find out anyway." Emmett reminded me. He was right.

"Yes but you're with Rosalie and we will confuse them. You may get a bad impression." I warned him. Emmett wanted me to act like his girlfriend to make the girl stop. My family couldn't hide that they were couples so people always knew and talked about how weird they thought it was.

"Only once. Please Bella?" I knew how annoying it was for him so I nodded. After a moment I leaned closer to Emmett and put my hand in his on the table so that it was visible for the girl to see. I then acted like I was daydreaming as my eyes wandered around the room and landed on her. I gave her an evil look. Not my worst one because that could have left her traumatised - I gave her one like a human would. She looked startled and a little afraid before turning in her seat towards the front of the classroom. I then subtly let go of Emmett's hand and tucked my hair behind my ear. The girl didn't look again.

"Mission accomplished." I said as Emmett and I grinned at each other. I had to admit that doing things like that was funny. It could make up for the rest of the day that wasn't quite as fun.

* * *

When it got to lunch I sighed with relief as I would have an hour to escape from my repetitive education. I discovered that I was the first of my family to arrive immediately because everyone turned their heads when I walked in. I added another thing to my charade as I lined up in the lunch line and mindlessly picked food off the counter. I chose an empty table near the corner where my family would sit for the next few years. Lunch time was the only time where we could talk normally to each other because people were so settled in to their own conversations.

I sat down and watched my family walk in. There was an empty circle around them as people instinctively backed away from their dangerous beauty. I couldn't help but laugh at their complete looks of disgust at the food.

"Hey Bella, how's your day going?" Alice chimed as she sat next to me.

"Oh it was great." I said sarcastically. She frowned at me.

"Come on Bella, lighten up!" She groaned and rolled her eyes. I laughed.

"I take it you've had a better day than I have." I concluded. Alice sank back in her seat and her eyes went blank. She was having a vision.

"What is it Alice?" Jasper asked. Then a huge smile spread across her face and she looked me in the eyes.

"Bella." She beamed. I had absolutely no idea what she meant or what she saw. But a second later I had no time to look at it farther as a group of people walked in to the cafeteria. They were talking and laughing - clearly centred around one boy and he was the one who caught my attention. He was beautiful. It was like I instantly saw his heart... Everyone else was blind and I was the only one who could see. I looked away from him and stared down at the table. I felt numb all over. It was the strangest reaction.

"I think we know who the king of the student body is." Emmett scoffed.

"Jealous, Emmett?" Rosalie joked.

"What? No way. He's got nothing on me." We all laughed. I watched as the boy and his friends sat on a table in the middle. He had his back to me. I listened in to his conversation and, in perfect timing, they started talking about us.

"So, I heard from everyone today that there were these new foster kids here?" He asked one of his friends. There was something familiar about his voice but I couldn't put my finger on it.

"Yeah, they just moved here. Haven't you seen them? They definitely stand out."

"Well who are they? I'd like to meet them." His friend found our table and I did a good job of looking like I wasn't looking until a note appeared in front of me. I looked up to see Alice grinning. The note read: HIM.

"Alice!" I said mildly exasperated and we laughed together. The other three just stared at us unknowingly.

"Well the popular guy certainly seems interested in us." Alice spoke as I turned my attention back to HIM. I saw him quickly look at us.

"Definitely... It will pass." I shrugged.

"Who's the girl with the long dark hair?" I continued to look natural and unaware of the conversation but inside I turned to ice. I realised that Alice had timed our moment of playfulness perfectly for when he was looking at us. In horror I put the pieces together and realised that her vision was to do with HIM and I. I kicked Alice under the table.

"Don't worry, Bella. It's not a bad thing!" Alice laughed.

"What's not a bad thing?" Emmett asked as my family caught on to Alice and I.

"The boy is taking a particular liking towards Bella." Alice smiled. Emmett boomed with laughter, Jasper chuckled and Rosalie frowned as normally she was the one who got the individual attention from boys.

"It's nothing." I dismissed. They were liking this way too much and I was agreeing that he should have been looking at Rosalie and not me.

The bell rang and students started to leave. My family and I made no attempt to move until most people were gone.

"We've got French, Jaz." Alice took his hand as we stood up. "Good luck." She mouthed to me as we separated. I was immediately afraid of what ever she was wishing me luck for.

As I walked in to bio most people were sat down. I went to the only empty desk and sat by the window. The bell rang and the teacher started talking about class rules and what he expected from us. I continued with my pattern on my notepad when I heard someone running in late.

"Thank you for joining us, Mr Mason." It was HIM. I scanned the room and realised that very unfortunately the only seat available was the one next to me. I heard him sit next to me but I didn't look up at him and sat as close to the window as I could. Everything was fine until Mr Nicholson decided to give us text book questions to get on with for the rest of the hour.

"Hi, I'm Edward Mason. You're Bella, right?" I looked up and he was smiling. Why was he smiling? Why was he introducing himself to me? Nothing about that guy made sense to me so far...

"Yes." I nodded and offered a small smile. I was stunned.

"How are you liking Forks, so far?" He asked me. Confusion wrapped around my mind. Who was he? He was talking to me like no other human would.

"Well, you're all very welcoming." He nodded and I went back to the text book questions. I spent ten minutes on the fifteen questions that we had to do although I could have finished them in three. I looked over to his page and was surprised to see he was on the tenth question.

"You're smart." I didn't mean to say it and I didn't mean to sound surprised when I said it. I mean I was but he, of course, assumed it was because of a different reason.

"What? You think it's impossible for someone to be popular AND smart?" He joked with me arrogantly.

"No, not at all." I spoke honestly. He put his pen down and stared in to my eyes like he was trying to find something.

"Then what?" He wondered.

"Well, I guess, there's more to you than people realise." I spoke honestly again. I didn't know him but I knew straight away that there was more to him that most people had no idea about. He seemed like that kind of person.

"Maybe you're right." He nodded and went back to his questions. I doodled for the rest of the lesson until the bell rang. All I could think about was how intriguing he was.

"What have you got next?" Edward asked me as we walked out of the room.

"I have a free." I replied.

"Meet me at the front of the building at the end." He said as he walked away from me. He didn't wait for an answer; he just told me to. This upset me, not because he didn't ask me but because he thought I would be meeting him and I wouldn't be turning up.

I went in to the library and decided to study for an hour. It was only the first day but I had been given plenty of work to do. I got through all of it within twenty minutes so I decided to head back to the car and wait for school to finish.

I didn't know exactly why but the thought of Edward waiting for me when I wasn't even going to meet him made me feel sad with guilt. But the fact was I couldn't. He needed to understand I couldn't be friends with him and I didn't want to hurt him so he needed to find out sooner rather than later. It would be better that way.

Eventually the bell rang and students filed out of the doors. I was waiting for my family when I saw Edward walk out and stand at the bottom of the steps waiting for me. His friends looked at him with confused faces.

"Dammit." I said quietly to myself when I realised I was too far away to listen. I saw his friends walk away when my family walked by. He stared at them for a moment and then his face fell. His eyes searched around. I sighed.

When they got in to the car Emmett and Jasper were talking about a wrestling rematch they were going to have. I payed little attention as I tried to shake away the pointless guilt I was feeling. I drove home in silence.

When we got home I went straight upstairs to my room and shut the door. Why had he entered my life? Why did he have to be so interesting to me? These thoughts swam round my mind as I stared at the ceiling.

"Bella?" Esme was knocking on my door.

"Come in." I said blankly.

"How was your first day?" She asked kindly as she closed the door behind her.

"Fine." I shrugged. She smiled and raised her eyebrows which was what she always did when she didn't believe me.

"Honestly." I confirmed and she sighed at me.

"Then why are you up here?" She had me on that one. But I had nothing to say to her - I didn't know why I was up there. I didn't know what I was doing.

"It's nothing, really." I told her shaking my head.

"Are you sure?" She worried.

"Yes, I'm okay." I smiled weakly at her and she kissed my head.

I was afraid of the next day. What would he say when he saw me? I didn't even know if biology was the only class I had with him. What if I had another class with him too? It would make it so hard. I had never talked to a human that much since I was one. What was I going to do? I had to stay away from him.


	2. Strange

Moonlight: Strange

The next day the attention on us died down greatly which I appreciated - people stayed away from us rather than gawked at us. When I walked in to history I saw Edward sat there - he was actually one of the first students there as a lot of people hadn't arrived yet.

He was sat at the front so I sat at the back to his right which was pretty far away from him. I didn't look at him when I sat down but I felt his gaze on me.

As soon as the bell rang I leapt out of my seat as I wanted to avoid confrontation with Edward. Eventually he would forget about me.

* * *

I spent the whole day like this - thankful that I didn't have biology. It all worked out until Emmett and I walked out at the end of the day and saw him across the lot standing by our car. It was scary how he seemed to fit in with it.

"Why the hell is that guy standing by our car?" Emmett said angrily.

"I don't know but he won't be much longer. Stay here." I replied as I quickly walked over to our car. I was annoyed - I just wanted him to go. He was making it harder.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked him; ignoring the feeling I got when his eyes locked on mine and focusing entirely on my anger.

"You owe me an explanation." He stated like it was an obvious fact.

"I don't owe you anything." I told him coldly. He smirked which just fuelled my fiery anger.

"Why didn't you show up?" He matched my coldness but I saw a flash of pain in his eyes. I sighed and my anger dwindled slightly.

"You can't just assume people will do the things you tell them to you know." I told him honestly. He seemed surprised by this and looked thoughtful as he took a while to reply.

"How do you do that?" He asked me as a puzzled look crossed his face.

"What?" I asked a little impatiently because I knew that my family were waiting.

"You see straight through me." Edward furrowed his eyebrows and looked down frowning.

"No. I see through what everyone else has made you in to. I see you." I was being to honest now. Before Edward could reply Emmett and the rest of my family appeared behind me.

"Dude, please keep away from our car." Emmett insisted. "And my sister." He added. Edward gave me a look that I didn't understand and quickly walked away. We got in to the car and I discovered that I had double bio first thing tomorrow. Why didn't Edward stay away from us? From me? Surely his instinct was to keep away like everyone else. It should have been... It made no sense!

When we got home I decided to talk to Alice. She withheld information that I wanted to know. As we got out of the car I pulled her to the side.

"Walk with me?" I asked her and she nodded after glancing to Jasper. We entered the forest and walked silently for a while until I knew the others wouldn't hear.

"Okay, Alice." I stopped and turned to her. "Tell me what you saw." I folded my arms stubbornly and she smiled at me.

"Well, it's about Edward. It's becoming clearer every second..." She smiled distantly and I was becoming desperate to find out. I stood still and stared at her unwilling to do anything else.

"But it's not clear yet so you will just have to wait. It depends on what happens in the next week... Who knows?" She spoke mysteriously and then ran in to the house. Leaving me extremely frustrated.

I spent the whole night sitting on my bed feeling nervous for the next day. My head was cloudy and full of thoughts that ran in a cycle. I would need to be angry with him - I had to push him away. He was a human and I was a vampire. He didn't know that but at least that made it less complicated. He couldn't ever know because it would put us in danger. I didn't even know him and I never would. I hated myself for feeling pain because I couldn't see him.

* * *

The next day when I got out of the car I saw Edward standing by his car with his friends. I tried to ignore how he looked and sounded. How I felt drawn to him. It was ridiculous. I couldn't put him or my family in any danger and that was all that mattered. As I walked up the steps in to the building he appeared at my side.

"Bella." He smiled a crooked smile that melted my heart. It took my breath away. I liked it when he said my name - it sounded right. Comforting and natural. It appeared that my plans to be angry with him had already started to disappear. I tried to shake away my initial thoughts.

"Edward." I replied trying not to smile as I continued walking.

"How are you?" He asked me as he easily kept up with my pace, like he was the vampire and I was the human.

"I'm fine." I spoke with little emotion as we entered our biology lab. I sat down and put my head in my hands. It was going to be a lot harder than I thought.

"Bella?" He sounded worried but I didn't look up and I didn't reply. I suddenly felt heat on my wrist come and go quickly and I realised that he tried to pull my hand away so he could see my face. I had to look up now.

"Bella, you're freezing! Do you want my jacket?" I was shocked at this. I didn't have anything to say. Why wasn't he repulsed? It obviously wasn't normal to have skin that cold unless you lived in Antarctica. So instead he was worried? He offered me his jacket? The more time I spent with him the stranger he seemed. Why didn't he stay away?

"No, that's okay." I told him - my coldness replaced by shock. He didn't push any farther but I knew he was concerned. He knew so little and he would never know that's why he had to keep away. I had to keep reminding myself of these facts.

The teacher turned the lights off and put on a documentary about cells. I sat with my arms folded for the entire thing and didn't look at him although occasionally I felt him glance at me. Afterwards we got on with some work that I decided to go through slowly so that he was less likely to talk to me. But still, he did.

"So why did you move to Forks?" Edward asked me.

"Well, my Dad found a good job here and we like to travel a lot." I stuck to our cover story.

"I like travelling too." He nodded and smiled. "Whe-" He was about to ask me something else but I didn't let him.

"We should get on with our work." I told him. We didn't talk again until the bell rang and I was thankful. I went to my locker and realised he was following me.

"Edward, we shouldn't be friends." I said to him when we got to my locker.

"Why not?" He looked upset and it crushed me that I was the cause of that. I closed my locker and shut my eyes to try and pull myself together.

"It's better if we're not friends." I looked him in the eyes and spoke coldly. My insides cracked from the pressure of my ice cold emotion. I turned away.

I skipped lunch, I skipped the whole afternoon, and sat in my car feeling terrible. My eyes couldn't form the impossible tears that I wished would appear and I felt hollow on the inside. Why did I want him? Why did I have to hurt him?

* * *

It was the end of the day and all the students came out of the building. I waited in the car for my family. They got in silently.

"Bella?" Alice said as she got in the driver's seat next to me. I shook my head. The other three stared at Alice and she just shrugged before we drove off.

We got out the car and I shut my door slowly as I watched my family go inside. I sat on the step outside our house and sensed Alice stood behind me.

"I can't understand your future..." She told me. I stood up immediately.

"Of course you can't! He's changing everything. Everything was fine..." I choked.

"Bella, what are you going to do?" She wandered and I took her hands.

"I don't know, Alice. I don't know..." Suddenly Carlisle appeared in the doorway looking serious.

"Bella. Alice. Come inside." He said seriously. He had heard us.

Everyone was sat on our furniture and Rosalie had turned the tv off. Alice and Carlisle sat down but I stayed stood up.

"What's going on?" Carlisle spoke seriously and concernedly. I didn't know what to say.

"I had a vision about Bella and... someone, a boy, from school. She is having a hard ti-" Alice was explaining too much. I didn't want to talk about it and I didn't want them to know about it - it was stupid and embarrassing.

"Alice!" I turned around and walked out of the room. It was all too much. I heard someone approaching me as I walked outside.

"Bella, please tell me what's troubling you." Carlisle. I sat on the the step and he sat beside me. I couldn't refuse to tell him. I had to talk to someone about it and I had known Carlisle longer than anyone.

"Carlisle..." I paused as I tried to figure out what to say. 'Have you ever come across a human who doesn't stay away from us? Who's interested?" I looked up at him.

"Well, people have been interested to know about me of course. But that's after they have talked to me and it has always been with the people I work with since they have to talk to me anyway." He explained. "If they didn't have to talk to me then they probably never would have like all the other people." It made sense, Edward did have to work with me. But then why would he try to talk to me more? Why would he just walk away from his friends and talk to me when he didn't need to?

"There's a boy who seems interested in me. I have to work with him in biology but then he approaches me just to talk to me. Today I had to be cold with him and tell him that we couldn't be friends. But none of it is making sense..." I thought about the way I naturally felt drawn to him... The way he fitted in.

"How do you mean?" Carlisle wandered. I sighed.

"It's just... There's something about him. Ever since I saw him." I told him.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following, Bella." He told me as he wore a puzzled face. No, I wasn't really following either.

"He fits, Carlisle. Somehow, he is naturally comfortable with me, with us, unlike any other human. I feel comfortable with him, too." His mouth fell and he raised his eyebrows slightly as he pulled back in surprise. He then rested his head on his chin as he thought. I realised that I felt better after telling him. I no longer felt guilty or sad - I just watched Carlisle mirror my confusion.

"He sounds completely different to any human I have come across." Carlisle stated. I just nodded and we both sat there staring - completely dumbfounded.

"Bella, Carlisle." Carlisle and I snapped our heads up as Alice came rushing through the door. "I had a vision. It's all clear to me now."


	3. Vision

Moonlight: Vision

"Just keep an eye on him. Especially you, Alice." I told Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie as we got out the car. My mind was buzzing with the vision Alice had last night.

_"Edward and Bella in a meadow. The sun breaks through the clouds. Edward smiles as he watches Bella sparkle and kisses her on the cheek."_

I didn't know what to do when I had heard this. It was strange but somehow answered some of my questions. He was going to get to know me. He was meant to be with me.

This vision confused everyone. Carlisle was immediately concerned because he knew of how strong vampire love was. I couldn't get in to a relationship with Edward. What if I fell in love with him and he died? What would I do? Was I already in love with Edward? I didn't think so. It had never crossed my mind, not because he wasn't relationship material - because he certainly was - but because he was a human. So, Carlisle was worried and honestly so was I.

Rosalie thought of it as stupid and weird. Emmett laughed and said something like "Trust you to be in an awkward relationship" - he got a punch in the ribs for that comment. Jasper was disapproving but was curious because Alice was very happy.

Esme was joyful. She had always been worried about me being alone for so long and the thought of me having someone was perfect news to her. She was so caring. Did I want someone? Was Edward the person I was going to spend the rest of my existence with?

The night before we had decided to keep an eye on him and to make sure he didn't do anything stupid that put us or him in danger. I decided to try and be friendly with him.

Edward wasn't at school yet so I waited by the car as I watched my family walk away. My plan was to walk up to him and try and be friendly. It was out of the question that he would come to me considering the way I had acted. Although I would have to catch him right away before a swarm of people crowded around him which normally didn't take very long.

I saw his car come in to the lot. His serious expression contorted my nerves as I watched him park up. I walked over to his car quickly. I realised that I had no idea what I was going to say.

He got out of his car and it was instantly clear why I might have loved him. He had to be the son of an angel. He had his back turned facing the car as I came up behind him.

"Hey." I said more cheerfully than I felt. He turned around and stumbled backwards slightly at the sight of me. I didn't know what that meant.

"Hi." His seriousness pinned me to the spot. I couldn't look away from him.

"Edward, I'm really sorry about yesterday." I spoke as kindly as I could. I heard his heart speed up - fear? Was I scaring him now? I mentally kicked myself for doing whatever I did wrong to make him afraid.

"Umm, it's okay. It's just... Bella, why is it better if we're not friends?" His voice turned my name to velvet on his lips. I was so mesmerised that I almost forgot to answer him. My name belonged on his lips. We started to walk.

"It's complicated. I can't tell you... But I want to be your... friend." Friend. I didn't like it. It sounded too little; too insignificant. Edward was worth more than a friend. Way more.

"You do?" He stared at me grinning. His sudden change in expression almost made me walk in to someone. All I did was smile back and nod. I could have looked at him forever but too soon we had appeared at his Spanish class.

"See you later, Bella." I hung on his words. All I managed to do was smile and wave. What had happened to me?

It took me a moment to remember what I had before I walked in to trig two minutes before the bell. I went to my usual seat at the back. Emmett stared at me and raised his eyebrows questioningly as I sat by him. I said nothing.

I sat through trig thinking about Edward. I thought about how crazy I was. I couldn't risk exposing my family. If I was with him then I would have to tell the truth. He would tell people. It would put all of us in danger and it could lead to our deaths. That would be the most selfish act ever committed. So, no, just friends. I wouldn't let Alice's vision come true. My mind was struggling to set on being friends with him. But I kept thinking it on the hope that it would sink in.

I was grateful when trig ended because I was tired of trying to convince myself. But I pushed that feeling aside when I remembered I had gym. I had always hated gym. When I was human it was because I was awful at sports. But now I hated it because as a vampire I was immensely bored the entire time. We all had to pretend to be bad at sports - I didn't mind but Emmett absolutely hated it. I still really disliked sports but being good at them made gym tolerable. But, to my disappointment, there was no vampiric attribute that completely eradicated my clumsiness - that part of me seemed glued to my personality.

"I don't want to do gym." Emmett groaned as we made our way to the changing rooms.

"Remember, Em. Try not to be too good." I warned him; he was very competitive.

"I'm always too good." He grinned at me and I laughed as we separated in to changing rooms.

When I came out I saw Edward talking with his friends. I sighed - something I was doing too much those days - because I wanted to be with him. I sat on the bench and waited for gym to start.

We were split in to four teams and were told to play volleyball. It was all going normally until I caught Emmett on the other court spiking the ball hard and fast toward Edward. My eyes were wider than I ever thought possible - what the hell was Emmett doing? He was putting us at rick and Edward at risk. I stared as it floated over the net. It was going too fast! I let the breath that I didn't know I was holding go as someone intercepted the ball before it hit Edward's face. The interceptor cried in pain as he took the force and hit the ball back to the other side. I glared at Emmett who was laughing hard at my reaction.

"You looked so worried!" Emmett laughed to me afterward.

"Emmett, you could have hurt Edward! You still hurt someone else!" I told him exasperatedly.

"Come on, Bella. They all lived." He grinned. "It was all worth it for your reaction anyway." I stared at him unimpressed.

I spent the rest of the day counting the minutes until I could go home. It was a boring afternoon, particularly when English came and Emmett and I had to sit there as people tried to memorise lines from Romeo and Juliet. When we finally heard the bell I jumped out of my seat and raced to the car. Home was where I wanted to be.


	4. Change

Moonlight: Change

The next day at lunch, after I got some food, I was startled to see Edward in my path.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" He asked me. He didn't seem very serious so I safely stepped to the side with him.

"What is it?" I asked anxiously.

"Okay, this is childish but my friends want to know whether your family are like together, together? They wanted me to ask you since we were, friends..." He hesitated slightly on the word "friends" which I didn't understand once again. For one hopeful moment I thought it could be because he wanted to be more than friends too. But that was impossible; it couldn't happen.

"Oh. Well, yeah. Alice and Jasper are, Rosalie and Emmett are. I mean we are all unrelated and live together as a family..." I explained. It was a change to have to explain it to someone because usually we wouldn't talk to people. Now that I was talking to the most popular guy in school, would other people start talking to us? Would he make it all change...? I didn't want that.

"What about you?" He startled me.

"What?" I replied stupidly. I was zoning out way too much those days.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" I stared at him with my mouth open. Did he care about that...? I was frozen in place. Why was I having that reaction? It was a perfectly normal question. I was about to say something, or at least show some sign that I was still breathing - still pretending to breathe anyway - when Alice saved me.

"Bella, could you come help me with my French?" She spoke cheerily. I hesitantly looked at Edward.

"Yeah, sure." I nodded. I shot an apologetic smile to Edward, who smiled, as I walked away.

I arrived at our usual table. When I saw Emmett I felt angry with him again - I had been angry with him all night. But most of all, it reminded me that I wanted to be with Edward. This feeling grew stronger every time I talked to him and the pain that I couldn't be with him grew with it. It burned inside of me and I couldn't take it away. I would feel this pain forever.

After thinking about it, this pain was all I was. I stared endlessly at the tray in front of me forgetting to keep up my human charade.

"Bella?" Jasper spoke nervously as he leaned closer to me. I shook my head.

"I'm fine, Jasper." I practically snapped back. I didn't mean to sound irritated by him. I wasn't.

"I'm sorry." He murmured, guessing the reason behind my feelings correctly. I ended my staring and saw the wary faces of my family. I was sure that they all knew what I was feeling. I looked at Jasper and immediately felt guilty for making him uncomfortable.

"No, I'm sorry. Maybe I should go." I spoke quickly as I couldn't stand seeing them unusually sombre and quiet. They didn't need to feel like that. I stood up.

"Bella, it's okay. Stay." Jasper spoke as everyone, except for me, became surprised.

"No, honestly, I could do with some space anyway." I decided before I walked away.

I sighed to myself as I exited the cafeteria and headed for my locker. Edward. This boy had changed my entire life. He was what I thought about when ever I had time to think. I was always trying to find him or talk to him. My everything was centred around him. Would it change over time? I couldn't see it. I needed to talk to Alice - would I ever stop thinking about Edward?

* * *

Before I knew it the bell went and I made my way to history. It was an easy class that I spent daydreaming and doodling in.

I stopped in the doorway when I saw Edward had moved to the back next to my chair. He didn't look as me as I glided my way across the room.

"I see you've changed seats." I spoke lamely as I sat down and got out my things.

"I knew you would enjoy my company." He grinned as I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Oh, so you moved for my benefit?" I retorted teasingly. I was sure that he could see straight through me.

"And mine." I stopped breathing for a moment. "Anyway we didn't finish our conversation earlier..." He pointed out.

"What conversation was that?" I asked distractedly. I knew exactly what he was referring to but I didn't want to have it. It was all torture to me.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" His green eyes glittered at me as they met mine.

"No, I don't." I mumbled. "Do you?" I tried to be casual but I was dying slowly inside. He would have a girlfriend. He laughed and it took me half a second to realise why.

"No, I do not have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend, for that matter." Here was another thing. He was teasing, in every way. He was undeniably fascinating. Every moment I was falling deeper and deeper and every moment it was harder to stop myself.

I pulled my chair slightly away from his and faced the front of the room. I felt an all too familiar tear in my chest caused by the pain of not being with him. We had work that I got on with.

I realised that everyone was chatting and messing around. People were throwing books to each other and making paper aeroplanes. I rolled my eyes and naturally turned to Edward who was laughing at my unimpressed expression. Then everything went bad.

I saw a book leaving a boy's hand and flying in the air. I watched it move to the back of the classroom - it was going to hit him. A hardback book speeding through the air would certainly knock him out at least. Edward could get brain damage, cuts, bruises. Hit in the wrong place, Edward could die. It was a small chance but any chance of him dying was enough to make saving him what I was created for, enough to make every other care I had disappear, enough to make my human charade insignificant.

I let out a cry that I had never heard before as I instinctively caught the book in front of Edward's face. He stumbled back in shock, falling off his chair, but he was okay. To everyone except me the whole thing lasted a second that was over in a flash. I scanned the room and realised that through the chaos no one had payed attention anyway. But Edward would want answers. It was then that I remembered he was still on the floor.

"Edward? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly as he wasn't moving. He was face down. I stopped breathing as terror hit me. What had I done? I waited and he didn't reply so I knelt by his head. My body was moving too slowly for my head.

"Edward?" My voice was small and afraid. I slowly turned his body over so he was lying on his back and suddenly he began laughing really hard. He was still on the floor and he couldn't stand up because he was so crazy with laughter.

"Bella... Aw, Bella. You were so scared!" He spluttered in between his uncontrollable laughter. I was angry. I was on fire with hatred. How could he do that to me? Leaving me to think I had hurt him? I sat on my chair silently until, not long after that, the bell went. I picked up my things and stormed out of the room. What did I have next? English. I was so happy it wasn't bio. But that happiness was tiny compared to my anger. I left so quickly he couldn't catch up with me and I arrived at the same time as Emmett.

"Hey." He said as we sat down. The more I thought about it, the more angry I got. I was genuinely terrified while he was laughing to himself.

"Stupid immature arrogant boy." I muttered under my breath. I was fuming.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Emmett said patronisingly which a lot of the time made me laugh. But this was a new kind of anger.

"Edward." I spoke his name grudgingly in disgust. Emmett rubbed my shoulder in an attempt to calm me down and I relaxed a little. It occurred to me how angry I must have seemed on the outside and was thankful that he helped just before people came in. God, I wished Jasper was there.

"What happened?" He asked quietly as the teacher began talking.

"I'll talk to you about it later. Just please don't tell anyone about this." We didn't want to be caught talking by the teacher in case he split us up so for the rest of the lesson we sat silently. I was glad that I had Emmett to trust and talk to about things. He was more than a brother, he was a great friend who I could rely on - a friend who was out to get me half the time - but I loved him. I needed him to not tell the others because I wanted to talk to him before anyone else knew about it. He would talk to me straight and honestly. That was what I wanted.

When the day ended I went straight to the car with Emmett. On the way I tried to calm myself down. The only one of my family, aside from Emmett, that would be really hard to fool, was Jasper. So I pushed away my anger and replaced it with calm as best as I could before we all arrived and got in to the car. Emmett gave me a small thumbs up which made me smile with relief.

When we got home, as we walked in to our house, Jasper gave me a weird look. He could tell that I was trying to hide my feelings. I suddenly panicked and I knew he felt it as his confusion deepened. I put my palms together and silently pleaded him to keep quiet. Still confused, he nodded.

I put my stuff in my room and then decided to find Emmett. I got downstairs and everyone was in the living room, which I would have known if I hadn't been so caught up with myself. This meant that I couldn't talk to him before we left everyone and they would all know that there was something going on. Still, I made my way downstairs because I needed to talk to him.

Esme and I exchanged a smile as I walked in. Emmett was with Rosalie on the couch so I walked up behind them and tapped his head from the back of the couch. He swivelled his head and I gestured that I wanted to go outside, he looked at me for a moment and nodded. By this time everybody was staring at us. He kissed Rosalie on the cheek and sprang up. Emmett and I casually headed for the door.

"You two?" Carlisle suddenly spoke. I stood like a statue in the doorway and so did Emmett. I felt five pairs of eyes on my back.

"Where are you going?" He said in suspicion.

"For a walk." Emmett said without turning around.

"Won't be long." I added without turning around too and then we continued walking like someone had just pressed pause on us. We laughed a little before running in to the forest, leaving a family that we would have to give explanations to later behind.

"Okay, Bella. Tell me what happened." He said when we had stopped running because we were far enough from our house. As I remembered what I wanted to tell him my anger and pain resurfaced. I told him about the incident.

"But that's not even it, Emmett. The bottom line is that he saw me catch the book and even if he didn't eventually there will be something that he will ask about and then... Who knows what could happen? I can't take it. The closer I get to him, the more pain I feel and the harder it gets. It can't go on like this." I decided.

"Bella, do you love him?" He wondered kindly. He had been listening seriously to everything I had said. I nodded glumly. I knew that somehow I did. Emmett sighed and put his arm around me.

"Then what are you going to do?" He asked. There was a long moment before I told him.

"Leave." It wasn't something I had thought about recently but at that moment it was the only thing I could do to keep my family and Edward safe. Emmett spun me around to face him.

"Bella, you can't! On your own, for how long? Two years, maybe? You can't split us up. Think about how hard it will be. Esme will be crushed!" He was exasperated.

"Emmett. I have to." I knew I had to. I couldn't question it. "I don't want to go..."

"Then don't." He spoke firmly. I looked up at him sadly and gave him a hug.

"I'll really miss you." I would have been crying if I could have done.

"I will miss you." His voice was full of sadness. We kept hugging for a moment.

"I don't know how long I will be gone. But I will call, every now and then.." I was actually doing this. Leaving all of my family. I was terrified.

"Now?" Emmett asked timidly, it was strange to hear him speak like that as his voice was usually loud and confident. I didn't like the difference. I was creating that difference.

"Tell them now. Leave tonight. " I stated blankly. We walked back to the house with our arms thrown around each other. He wasn't going to be there to comfort me for a long time, or truthfully, I wasn't going to be there to comfort.

Alice was at the front door. She had seen my decision, she had to see how sure I was, how much I had to do it. My free hand took Alice's hand as we all walked back in to the living room. I parted from both of them and stood alone. That was what it would be like for a while after all.

"I'm leaving." I whispered.


	5. Discussion

Moonlight: Discussion

Instantly the room was full of the intense reactions of my family.

"Bella, no!" Esme cried as her face contorted in to shock and sadness. Carlisle looked surprised and wrapped his arm around her waist, kissing the top of her head. I knew they were both worried. Rosalie just stared at me in shock; but not as powerfully as the others. Emmett was knowingly looking around at everyone like me. Alice was too, although I could tell she was trying to see the future and how my decision effected our lives.

I felt like Jasper when I was measuring all of this. My eyes shot to him, he looked less shocked than everyone else; he didn't seem very surprised at all actually. He was in deep thought. I figured it was because I had answered his questions about my mixed feelings earlier.

"Bella, you shouldn't leave." He suddenly said when our eyes met. Everyone stared at him.

"Yes, I should." I had made my mind up. It would protect everyone if I left while Edward was still around.

"No, Bella. It's not the right thing to do." Jasper stared at me sternly. His mind sounded as set as mine was. I guessed Alice had talked to him about what happened earlier, she must have seen it after it was too late.

"Jasper, I'm leaving." I spoke stubbornly and folded my arms to let him know I had decided.

"Jaz is right." Alice spoke up, putting a hand on his shoulder to let him know she agreed with him. "Leaving would be the opposite of helpful right now Bella." I blinked at her in disbelief. A moment ago she had accepted my decision, what had changed?

"What is it?" Rosalie wandered.

"Oh!" Emmett suddenly said and our heads snapped to him. It seemed like he understood what they meant; that made one of us.

"Bella, we need you around. If you disappear it will make the situation much worse." He told me loudly.

"If Edward saw, and I am sure he did, then you going away will make him more likely to talk. It will make the whole thing even more suspicious." Alice informed me and the others nodded along. I hadn't thought of that.

"Hold on, what happened?" Carlisle interjected. Emmett quickly explained to Esme, Carlisle and Rosalie what happened with Edward. There was a long moment of silence.

"Yes, that makes sense." Carlisle agreed to what they said and Esme sighed in relief. I stared at all of them.

They had decided for me that I wasn't going to leave. It made sense, sure, but then what was I going to do? I needed to leave and I couldn't? I was trapped and I was forced to put my family in danger. Even worse, Edward, a human, would be in danger. I loved him. And that was why I had to stay away from him - so what was I supposed to do? I wouldn't be able to stay away from him. Why didn't he stay away from me? That would have made things so much easier.

Unless... Was there a way I could be with him? Maybe he didn't need to know. Maybe I could have just gotten to know him. No, that wouldn't work because he would want to get to know me and I didn't want to have to lie to him. I couldn't ever tell him about my family and I. One thing for sure is that he would want to stay away from me after that anyway. So, I was stuck. But none of it mattered anyway because I didn't even know what Edward thought about me. I knew he didn't think about me like I thought about him. I would see him at school and be desperate to talk to him and be with him.

"Well, then what do I do?" I asked helplessly to everyone in the room. They all looked at me apologetically - no one had any suggestions for me. Then, as if on cue, Alice had a vision. When she saw it her mouth turned up at the corners and I so badly wanted to know what made her want to smile.

"Bella." Alice spoke as her smile got bigger. I was pleading in my head for it to be something good that would help me. I stepped forward to stand next to her.

"What is it, Alice?" I replied. We all watched her face with curiosity.

"You're in the meadow again. You're so happy." She said incredulously. "But this time... The sun. He is sparkling too. His eyes are amber... He's one of us." I stood like a statue. One of us? A vampire. A Cullen... Being with Edward forever - was I really going to get that? Part of me was overjoyed. I wasn't sure whether Edward would be my mate or not but any life with him had to be a better one. I thought about Alice's vision, she said I looked happy. That vision was truly what I wanted.

I tried not to get too happy though - why was Edward going to become one of us? Would he have a bad accident and Carlisle would have to change him? It created questions and I was afraid of the answers.

"This is amazing!" Esme beamed, breaking the silence. I smiled back at her and Alice was grinning with excitement.

"It certainly raises questions, though." Carlisle said as he thought. I could tell he was on the same page as me.

"It would be cool to have another dude around the house... We're outnumbered." Emmett shook his head and spoke like it was an important fact. Rosalie rolled her eyes at him.

"It's great. But I need to focus on what I'm going to do, for now anyway. Just so that I don't go totally crazy... What options have I got?" I wandered helplessly again. They nodded at me and the room fell silent as we struggled for answers.

"First of all, Bella, what are you going to say when - if - he asks about the incident today?" Carlisle raised a good point that I hadn't thought about at all.

"I don't know. I will just say I have quick reflexes." I shrugged. But I knew that we were getting at something there.

"If he notices one thing then he will start noticing other things. Believe me that's just how it works." Rosalie told me. She was right. He would start looking for the unusual stuff now that he had seen something unusual.

"One thing for sure is that you can't stay away from him, Bella. When you decided to leave I saw you... struggling. It's pretty much up to him how much you talk to each other now." Alice interjected. Now I had thought about it, I knew how much I thought about him. If I left I would think about him all the time and want to see him again.

"I'll just have to stay on guard, for now. We will see what happens... Are we done here?" I wandered tiredly. I needed time to process everything. I turned towards the door and went outside. Esme stepped forward worriedly.

"She's not leaving. She just wants space." Alice told her reassuringly. Alice and I seemed to be on the same level most of the time.

I ran in to the forest and let all the information flood my head at once. I had a long weekend ahead of me. I couldn't see how I would be able to stay away from him, although I didn't even know where to look if I tried to find him. I would have to keep myself busy.

* * *

I spent the weekend hunting with my family so that I would be at my best when I got back to school. I walked in to biology on Monday and sucked in a breath. Edward was sat there absentmindedly tapping his pen on the desk. I couldn't explain to myself how perfect he was. He was mesmerising. It all made sense now; it made sense that he fitted in and was comfortable around me.

On the door into bio there was a poster for prom - that was why people seemed more excitable that morning. Prom was in a few months time and everyone was buzzing. My family and I sometimes went to prom but we weren't really bothered about it since it was a human thing. However, Alice did love parties so she was always willing for all of us to go...

I knew that Edward would be getting hundreds of invitations to prom or at least hundreds of girls would hint at him and bribe him. Who wouldn't want to go with him? Which one would he choose?

"Hi." Edward said happily. As soon as he said it I remembered what happened on Friday and how much worry filled my head. I didn't reply as I sat down and got my stuff out.

"What?" He suddenly sounded confused. I ignored him. It hurt to ignore him but I was so confused. All of it was too much. I was worried about him being suspicious, I was angry with him for making me think I had hurt him and I felt like I had to stop myself from looking at him and talking to him because of all of this. I decided to keep it light though. I didn't want him to leave me... I didn't think I did anyway.

I realised that I would have to push my anger aside because if we talked about it it would give him an opportunity to ask questions...

"Nothing, I'm just tired." I lied and shook my head dismissively. "How are you?" I didn't want to push him away; I couldn't help myself. I wanted to know how he was.

"I'm good, thank you." He smiled. I let out a small sigh of relief - so far he wasn't hating me or showing sign of suspicion. I ignored the lecturing as the lesson began and stupidly looked at him. I was desperate to know more about him. About his family, what he liked and disliked, what his life was like... I wanted to ask him questions.

I watched him sigh and put his head in his hands. What made him want to do that? Was he just bored? I was frustrated with myself and the whole situation. I didn't know what I was doing, all I knew was that I wanted to be with him and talk to him.

"Bella?" I looked up from the doodling I must have subconsciously started and saw his face turned towards mine. "I'm sorry about yesterday, I could tell you were angry with me." He spoke politely. I appreciated it, I liked that he noticed how I felt. But I tensed with apprehension. My eyes turned downwards and my hands balled in to fists. I still felt his gaze on me and for once it made me incredibly uncomfortable because I felt like I was trying not to crack. I nodded slightly to let him know that I heard him.

"What are you thinking?" He suddenly asked me while he still looked at me. _He_ was asking _me_ that? I pushed my hair out of my face and lifted my head. What was I supposed to say? "Oh, I was just thinking that I wanted you to avoid talking to me about yesterday, in case you found out that I was a vampire"? I knew it was just me freaking out but I was feeling dizzy. I laughed quietly at myself because of how ridiculous it all was. He groaned and looked away.

"Edward?" I said to him as my feelings melted away and I forgot about myself. He slowly moved to look at me and his green eyes met my gold ones.

"You are so hard to read, you're giving me no answers!" He groaned frustratedly. This surprised me; I had been focusing entirely on wanting answers from him. I never thought that he would want answers from me - apart from asking about what happened the day before.

"You must be a good reader then." I guessed. There was a moment of silence before he laughed lightly under his breath. He seemed frustrated still but I wasn't sure. I wished Jasper was there to let me know. I was sick of my thoughts that ran in circles so I tried to pay attention to the lesson.

* * *

For the rest of the day I didn't see much of him which was either good or bad. Alice was constantly checking the future and telling me where he was if he was near by. My family were all checking whether he had mentioned anything strange to anyone throughout the day. We had to make sure we were safe. Surprisingly, he hadn't said anything to anyone so far.

At the end of the day I came out of the changing rooms after gym to see Edward standing outside. I could tell immediately that he was nervous which in turn made me nervous. His face lit up when he saw me and my body knotted with nerves and attraction. He was waiting for me...?

"Bella." He had a habit of just saying my name along with nothing else which I adored very much. Whenever he said my name it made me feel special. The person I appeared to love was saying my name. He was waiting for me.

"Edward." I replied in a similarly happy tune. We walked toward the exit together side by side. I forced away the urge to hold his hand that was dangling right by mine. Although occasionally my hand twitched towards him before I snapped it shut.

"How's your day been?" Was this really happening? We were having a casual, friendly conversation? I couldn't believe that he had waited for me and actually seemed interested in what I thought. I forgot all the bad things that came with getting to know Edward and let myself fall naturally in to conversation with him.

"It was fine." I shrugged. "How was your's?" I was so comfortable around him. I hoped his day was good. He put on his crooked smile and I remembered to keep looking in front of me incase I almost walked in to something or almost tripped again.

"It was okay." He shrugged. "I was wandering if I could ask you something." He stopped and I stepped to the side so that I wouldn't be in the way of people.

"Anything." I replied honestly without hesitation. I loved that his smile seemed to be permanently stuck on his face. He paused for a moment.

"You're really smart and since we share a few classes together I was wandering whether you would want to come to my house tomorrow to study?" He said this quickly at once. If I was a human then I would probably have to get him to repeat it again more slowly, but I caught all his words that he was saying at snail speed compared to how fast I could talk. Was this why he was so nervous? He wanted me to come to his house? Yes, was what I answered in my head. Spending more time with Edward out of school would be amazing, dangerous, I reminded myself, but amazing. I wanted to help him if I could anyway.

I almost laughed out loud when I thought this - since when had I been helping Edward? I had been putting him in danger ever since I had met him. His blood never appealed to me more than anyone else's but that didn't mean that my throat wouldn't scorch and venom wouldn't flow in my mouth if I ever got too close to him. Surely, it was too dangerous to be alone with him. But I wanted to say yes so badly and I had hunted at the weekend. I cared about him too much to let myself hurt him if things went wrong. I would keep my distance and be cautious when I was with him.

I was sure this was a trap that I would regret falling in to later. But I fell in to it willingly with ease at that moment. I didn't say a word as I nodded silently. We stood completely still. I wasn't even sure if he was breathing; I knew I wasn't. He stared in my eyes with his signature crooked smile and I couldn't help but smile warmly back at him. We were sharing something then but I didn't know what it was. I just knew that I liked it. Someone called his name farther down the hallway and he broke his gaze. He turned to look at me one last time before vanishing in to the masses of students.


	6. Over-planning

Moonlight: Over-planning

When we got home Esme and Carlisle were in the study, Jasper and Emmett went outside for a wrestling match, Alice was floating around the house and Rosalie sat in the living room with me. I collapsed on the couch and couldn't wipe away the smile that formed on my face. I was really looking forward to seeing Edward again.

"Okay, Bella." I snapped out of my dreamy haze and looked up at Rosalie who was raising her eyebrows at me. "You have not stopped smiling since you got in the car. What happened?" She didn't break eye contact with me as she waited for me to talk.

"Umm, nothing." I replied innocently although not as convincingly as I would have liked. She continued to stare at me with wide eyes and I couldn't look at her.

"Did your Eddie-" She began.

"Edward." I cut her off snappily. She grinned at me for reacting that way.

"Okay." I squeezed my eyes shut as I gave in. She smiled as she sat back in her seat and waited for me to explain. I sighed and turned myself towards her.

"I'm going to Edward's house after school tomorrow..." I explained. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"Bella, do you want to know what I think?" I grimaced and she laughed at me. I was always afraid of what Rosalie thought...

"I think you are being reckless. You are putting us at risk. And Edward. I am happy that you have found someone that you want to be with but what are you going to have with him? I would have never let Carlisle take away Emmett's life unless I knew he couldn't have one. And that was even before I knew him." She told me. I frowned, it was true. Whatever Rosalie said there was always sense behind it.

"I wouldn't do that to Edward either, Rosalie." I told her honestly. "I don't know what's going to happen. But nothing's happened yet." We had all jumped ahead because of Alice's vision but Edward and I had barely gotten to know each other.

"Most of all, I think he's an idiot. He won't stay away like everyone else because he is stupid-" She insulted him which made me instantly defend him.

"No, he's not stupid. I don't know why he's not staying away... If he was smart, then he would... But he is definitely not stupid." I said as I remembered how well he worked in biology.

"Anyway, the fact is that we don't know what he thinks. What he wants. We don't know why he wants to be around you. It's kind of up to him what happens next." She told me bluntly. I nodded as I thought through what she said.

"Rosalie, I can't tell him." I whispered sadly.

"You don't need to." She smiled. I sat back as I thought in confusion. I didn't need to tell him? I guess I didn't. But I couldn't think anymore because Alice came happily bouncing in.

"Bella! I need to help you pick out an outfit for tomorrow." She grabbed my hand and tugged me up. I looked at Rosalie helplessly and she laughed before I was dragged upstairs.

"Alice..." I groaned as I unwillingly entered her room. Alice's and Jasper's room was very classy and elegant - gleaming with Alice's style. The room had three doors connected to it: the entrance, the en-suite and the closet. They had a king-sized four poster bed with a high head board that was covered in pillow-like material. There was a couch covered in cushions that Alice had very obviously chosen as they ranged in shades of pink and red. The walls of the room itself were ivory white and so was the carpet. Jasper and Alice had a lot of books and ornaments but what stood out the most was the huge mirror that covered half of one of the walls that stretched on forever. I laughed to myself at the memory of Jasper having no say in what they were having as Alice and him flicked through all the catalogues Esme had gathered.

Alice yanked me into the closet that had the space of an average sized bedroom. About two-thirds of it belonged to Alice's clothes and accessories - at least half of that was full of shoes and dresses. She skipped a few steps to her dresses and my eyes widened - she was NOT about to suggest a wore a dress. I stood in the doorway staring anxiously.

"Alice, I am not wearing a dress to school. Never." I told her stubbornly. She turned away from her dresses so that I could see her rolling her eyes at me.

"Bella, you are hopeless." She muttered under her breath as she moved towards her shirts. I smiled triumphantly as I moved over to her slowly and peered over her shoulder. I instantly grimaced at the lace, silk, frills and colours of the shirts she was sieving through. I knew that I would have to suffer though - no way would Alice let me wear my usual clothes. She decided on a shirt in seconds and spun around to face me.

"This is perfect. It suits you beautifully and will highlight your curves." She giggled excitedly.

I stared blankly at the blouse she was holding. It was a pretty color, I had to give her that. She could have chosen pink or animal print but she chose a dark shade of blue that appeared in the sky at twilight. It was a color I would have chosen myself. The short-sleeved blouse was simple but the material flowed and hung down which gave it elegance - something that I definitely needed more of. I swallowed and nodded at her - it was the best that I was going to get.

"Thanks, Alice." I spoke half-heartedly as she handed it me. I walked at vampire speed to my room but she appeared in front of me at the door, blocking me.

"Ah-ah-ah." She said wagging her finger like I was a small child. "Now we need to decide on your ski-"

"I don't want to wear a skirt." I interjected. She ignored me.

"Your skirt, shoes, jacket, hair, make-" I decided she was going too far. I tried to dodge past her so I could get into my room but she refused to move.

"Okay, Alice. If I have to wear a skirt then I will. But I refuse to wear heels, do anything particularly special with my hair or wear any make-up or jewellery apart from my Cullen-crest." I gave her one quick, sharp nod to emphasise my point before flitting down the stairs. To my concern she followed me in to the living room where Carlisle, Esme and Jasper were sat.

"Honestly, Bella, you are ridiculous." She ranted as we entered, taking Jasper's hand and kissing his cheek as he stood up to greet her. "Your style..." She shook her head as if there were no words to describe it.

"It's not that bad Alice! It's just different to yours." I told her exasperatedly as I sat myself by Esme on the couch. Carlisle was sat on the other side of Esme.

"What's going on you two?" Carlisle tried to conceal his chuckle as he spoke. The three of them were grinning - Alice and I often bickered about something like this. We really were sisters. Alice pulled Jasper down on to a seat with her, sitting on his lap. Apparently I wasn't the only one she dragged around with her.

"Nothing." I dismissed immediately. I glared at Alice who was bound to mention me seeing Edward after school, she would exaggerate it and turn it in to something bigger than it was. I looked at Alice who was smiling distantly. I didn't think she was having a vision, I wasn't sure, it was more like she was forming a plan...

"Alice-" I began.

"Rosalie!" Alice sprang up from Jasper's lap as Emmett and Rosalie entered.

"Yes?" Rosalie replied as she walked over to Alice. We all stared at them.

"Will you come outside with me?" She asked suspiciously and gestured towards me with a wicked smile on her face. I thought Alice was mouthing something to her but it was difficult to tell from the back of her head. Rosalie's eyes landed on me for a moment and then she grinned as she understood whatever Alice was talking about. Meanwhile the rest of us were in the dark. Alice bounced over to me and leaned over the back of the couch to unnecessarily whisper in my ear.

"If you don't tell them we will." She told me alarmingly before linking arms and disappearing with Rosalie. My eyes narrowed as a grudge against them formed. Alice had been devising a plan based on a vision. They both knew that I didn't want to tell the rest of the family about seeing Edward and now that they all knew there was something to know... They would push for me to tell them. I bit my lip as my eyes searched around the room metaphorically for an exit. Emmett landed next to me and I gasped in shock. He swung his arm around me.

"Tell us what, sis?" He grinned and they all stared at me curiously.

"Nothing." I repeated quickly and my body snapped up from the couch. But Emmett was too strong and shoved me back down next to him. I didn't know why, it could have been in panic or because I wanted it so badly, but suddenly I imagined what it would be like if Edward were there. Edward Cullen. If Edward were there, a vampire, he would protect me. He would stop Emmett from stopping me. I imagined it...

_Emmett pushes me back down with force. Edward moves Emmett's arm away from me and gently takes my hand to pull me up. His hand is so smooth and his warmth lights my skin on fire. My body stands close to his. His hand glides to my waist and his other hand softly strokes my hair away from my face. I nestle in to his chest and we breathe simultaneously. I smell his intoxicating smell that makes my head swirl and my still heart thump to life. We gaze at each other with extreme and eternal love in our golden eyes. He leans down to kiss me lightly on the lips. We close our eyes. I'm in heaven..._

"Bella!" Emmett's booming voice was the first thing to wake me from my day dream. Edward disappeared. My eyes roamed around dizzily before I focused on his panicked face in front of me. His hands were gripping me and shaking me violently. Had I phased out? My body stopped shaking and I looked around to see Carlisle and Jasper stood behind Emmett looking really worried. Esme was sat next to me with an expression that made me want to cry.

I blinked at Emmett in front of me and sat back in my seat. It was really strange, it all seemed so real, so real that loss absorbed my entire being as soon as I stopped thinking about him. I wandered whether that was what Alice's visions were like. I hoped Alice's visions were like that...

"I'm fine." I told them quickly so that they could stop worrying. "I just..." I couldn't collect the thoughts that I seemed to have left behind in a tangle. I tried to decipher what I was trying to say in my head but all I could think about was Edward Cullen. This make-believe character that I wanted to exist very badly. I remembered how much I wanted him. I ached. Edward wasn't there wrapping his arms around me. He was a human. He was at his home. I breathed distressingly. I couldn't get out of it. I could only think of Edward.

"Bella?"

"Bella! What is it?"

"Bella, can you hear me?"

"What happened?"

"I don't know."

"Bella?"

"Shhh. It's okay, Bella."

"Bella, honey?"

"Bella, calm down."

"Bella. Bella."

I was thinking of Edward the entire time as the muffled voices became a solid wall background. I was going through scenarios with him in my head - any situation with him there was a situation that I wanted to be in. I longed to be with him. Suddenly, without warning, he told me that I would see him in real life tomorrow and that my family needed me back. It was my subconscious telling me that I had to go back to reality. What I was doing was sad and pathetic. I was more desperate for Edward than anything in my entire existence. I was surprised but if my family needed me back then I had to leave. I nodded sadly and he kissed the top of my head before the entire image vanished in to thin air.

Silence.

It was reality again. I could hear nothing except for my heavy breathing.

"Bella. It's Alice, can you open your eyes, honey?" She spoke kindly. My eyes were closed? I squeezed my eyes to check before slowly peeking out from my lashes. I was sat on the couch - it seemed I hadn't moved at all - and Alice was sat next to me. Deja vu hit me as my eyes tried to focus. I jumped up to protect myself from disappearing in to my head again.

"Guys?" Alice raised her voice and suddenly Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett appeared. I stumbled backwards towards the fire place.

"Bella?" Jasper and Alice said at the same time. Chagrin took over my face.

"I'm fine. I really... am." I breathed slowly. I finally felt like my normal self again and a small smile curved my lips. The loss wasn't there, it wasn't there because my dreams about Edward weren't real. I was going to see Edward soon. I felt a wave of calm wash over me and my eyes fired Jasper a 'thank you'. I stepped closer to everyone.

"Where are Esme and Carlisle?" I wandered casually. I didn't think anything about what had happened, it wasn't a big deal.

"They went hunting." Emmett replied impatiently. "Bella, what the hell happened?" He asked urgently. Apparently I was the only one who thought I was fine.

"Nothing." I spoke rapidly. I rolled my eyes at myself before offering something more helpful and reassuring. "It was weird. I was just thinking about Edward." I explained. We were all stood still. Rosalie was trying not to smirk, Jasper furrowed his eyebrows and Alice and Emmett were just alarmed by the looks of it.

"Are you okay? Why were you upset?" Alice panicked. My eyes widened and I was so irritated with myself for making them feel like that. It was too extreme.

"I'm sorry, it was an overreaction to something." I shrugged to them honestly although I didn't think that they believed me. "I promise I'm okay." I smiled.

"What was it?" Jasper asked and they all waited for my answer. I tried to think of something to say so that I wouldn't have to tell them the pathetic truth.

"Umm... I thought about Alice making me wear a pink dress to school tomorrow." I tried and Alice burst out in to laughter. Everyone smiled now.

"Bella, you are the worst lier ever!" She exclaimed. I gave a small smile that became bigger when I realised that they weren't going to push for an explanation. I shared a hug with Rosalie and flung my arm around Jasper. As I hugged Alice, I noticed Rosalie and Emmett exchanging a conversation.

"I'll be upstairs okay, baby?" Rosalie spoke quietly to Emmett. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek before she went upstairs. Alice moved her eyes toward Emmett which I knew was a sign that I had to go and talk to him. I stood alone in the middle of the room as I stared with confusion at Emmett who was facing the wall and looking outside with his palms against the glass. Stress and concern spread over me - what was he thinking? I hesitantly walked over to his side and observed the trees and distant mountains with him.

"Emmett?" I spoke timidly and moved his hand away from the glass. He looked like he was in pain; his expression was so severe.

"I'm worried about you Bella..." He told me quietly.

"Why? I'm really okay. I'm just in a confusing situation." I was surprised at how open I was being with him. I needed him to know that I genuinely was okay.

"Let me ask you something, when you..." He went silent like the memory pained him. "When you phased out, did you think about Edward? Edward being with you, I mean." He wandered. I was surprised at how absolutely right he was. I nodded and he nodded back.

"After I was turned, it wasn't as extreme as what happened to you but I think that happened with me when I thought about being with Rosalie..." He smiled slightly to himself.

"Really? That's interesting. Maybe it can happen when you think about your, mate..." I suddenly began. I ended my sentence slowly and glanced outside sadly. I really believed Edward was my mate but it was so hard to see how it would come true...

"You know what? I'm going to help you. I want you to be with him." He flipped a complete one-eighty and grinned down at me. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Thanks, Emmett. I know you will like him." I laughed. I yelped as he picked me up by my waist and spun me around. I was giggling as I landed in front of him before Alice popped her head up in the space between us.

"Okay Bella, time to get ready for tomorrow!" She smirked eagerly.

"Alice!" Instantaneously I panicked because I hadn't told Emmett or anyone else yet about my plans with Edward. Emmett calmly leaned around Alice's head and rested his head on her shoulder which made her giggle.

"Chill out, Bella. Alice and Rose told us already." He rolled his eyes comically like it was obvious which made me roll my eyes back at him. We all laughed.

"Come ON, Bella." She rolled her eyes and I laughed once before realising she was serious. Emmett gave me a thumbs up and I watched him boom with laughter as I was being dragged away once again.


	7. Surprise

Moonlight: Surprise

In the comfort of my own room I spent minutes staring at my self in the mirror, fighting with myself over whether to go and tell Alice that I couldn't go to school like that. I had accepted the blouse, that was in fact the best part of what I was wearing. As for the rest of me... I had been literally forced in to wearing a black mini-skirt, again, it wasn't the color, it was the fact that when Alice said mini I foolishly thought it would cover most of my thighs. I was wrong. The skirt ended pretty much just as my thighs started, I would have to be so careful not to lean down or lie down with my skirt hitched up to my hips. I didn't think that the school would allow me to wear something that short but Alice unsuccessfully assured me that it would be fine. I tried to negotiate pantyhose but apparently Edward had to have full view of my "smooth, flawless legs".

The only make-up I wore was lip butter that made my lips look super soft, it was nice but made me question Alice's motives for giving it to me. Apart from all of that I got the way I wanted as long as she approved, well, as long as she tolerated. Any of my family - including Alice - would agree that I got off easy. I was happy that we had school because otherwise I would have had no excuse not to be completely glamoros. I let my hair tumble down my shoulders and was thankful that because I was a vampire I didn't have to worry too much whether it looked good. Being a vampire meant that my hair looked permanently like I was in a hair conditioner commercial which every girl would kill me - kill us - for.

I slipped on my black pumps and traced the lion on my pendant that Carlisle had given me, which was the only jewellery that I wore, before going downstairs.

"Bella, you look so HOT!" Alice exclaimed incredulously, a huge smile spread across her face. I smiled sheepishly - I didn't feel very hot - I felt uncomfortable. Alice, Jasper and I stood by the front door as we waited for Emmett and Rosalie.

"Alice, are you sure I can wear all of this?" I questioned nervously.

"Are you kidding? You look stunning. Besides, when have I ever been wrong about fashion?" She grinned slyly. I couldn't suppress my heavy sigh - I had had a very long night with Alice that I really hoped was worth it. I flitted over to grab my bag and my jacket before turning back around to the door. Jasper laughed half a second before it became obvious why.

"Great idea, Bella! Cover yourself up with the jacket, then when you get to his house, he won't know what hits him! Do you want to borrow my scarf too?" The worst part was that she was being serious. Jasper tried to conceal his laughter while I stared at her with my mouth hanging open. Luckily, Emmett and Rose saved me from attempting a reply.

"I'm driving, guys!" Rosalie announced as we walked out of the house.

"Woahh, Bella." Emmett took me in and pretended to be impressed. I knew for a fact that he was trying to make me even more uncomfortable than I already felt. Without warning I punched Emmett in the ribs which sent him flying against the wall. I laughed in satisfaction before hardening as soon as I turned around. Rosalie, Alice and Jasper were getting in to Rosalie's conspicuous car.

"Rose. No." I told her slowly and clearly. I didn't dare move another inch.

"Bella, I haven't driven this to school before. I want to take it... But we need to take Em's jeep anyway." She told me casually. My breath caught in my throat. I hesitantly looked at Emmett who was now stood behind me.

"No way, Bell!" He laughed, shaking his head. "Karma." He grinned. He was so proud that he got his own way.

"Please, Em! I'll do anything!" I pleaded exasperatedly. I wasn't in the mood for arguing but I certainly wasn't going to take the other car.

"Anything?" He teased as he raised his eyebrow. "Hmm..." He stroked his chin irritatingly and I would have punched him again if I didn't want to take his car so badly.

"Let me talk to Edward today." He folded his arms across his chest firmly.

"No way Emmett! I have barely talked to him yet." I shook my head as I cringed at the thought of everything that Emmett could have said to Edward... He sighed and shook his head like he was disappointed in me. The whole thing was so stupid, it came down to one thing: Emmett liked to annoy the hell out of me.

"Okay, Bella. How about this: If and when Edward comes over to our house let me hang out with him for a while." He grinned devilishly with a gleam in his eyes. I thought this through as I felt the pressure of my family waiting and heard Rose tapping her foot impatiently.

"Fine. Let's go." I glared at him sharply before getting in to his jeep. Emmett drove behind Rosalie with a smile on his face - whether it was because of our agreement or because he was driving his car to school, I didn't know.

"You know, Bella." Emmett started as we drove in to town. "Alice did do a good job. It's funny how a few little things can completely change someone... You're almost as hot as Rosie." He smiled like he had just payed me the largest compliment of my life. I narrowed my eyes.

"Thanks so much." I told him sarcastically before he boomed with laughter.

When we got to school, early as usual, I cautiously moved on to the ground and stopped by Emmett's car as I noted all the cars in the lot. I was instantly aware that Edward hadn't arrived yet but I didn't want to wait by our cars since students would soon swarm around them. So I travelled up to my locker and pretended I had something to do there. Jasper strode past me with Alice skipping at his side.

"Alice and I are keeping close watch. Don't worry." He lowered his voice reassuringly and I smiled calmly.

"See you at lunch." I replied before they carried on down the corridor. I slumped against my locker and students glanced at me when they walked by. I groaned silently before making my way to history - it seemed like all I had those days was history.

I was surprised to see Edward wasn't there. He was always on time (except on my first day, when we had bio). It was strange because he seemed like the typical popular guy when we came to this school. Had he changed? I thought this through as I sat down, when coincidentally two girls came through the door linking arms and gossiping. I stared down at the table as I listened intently:

"He's been acting weird in the last week. I swear something's changed! He doesn't want to talk to us anymore." One of the girls chatted to the other.

"I know right? He's just not fun anymore, I mean, come on I went out with him for a week last summer! I deserve some attention from him."

"I don't know... He's just distracted and doesn't want to hang out as much. _Something_ is on his mind." Edward entered the room and I was too intrigued by the girl's conversation to look up at him. The only thing stopping me from gazing at him was the fact that I was learning about him. I knew he was their topic.

"All the guys think so too. Dylan told me that, like, he's gone moody or something! Whatever it is, he better snap out of it or he will have no friends."

"Yeah, no one likes him like this. We like the old Edward." My head snapped up instantly and my heart shattered in to a million pieces as Edward's face fell in pain. The girls, completely oblivious, carried on talking about issues with their friends. He looked so sad, I wanted to hold him so much. I shrank back in my seat. Edward scanned the ground as he slumped down next me. I had to do something. He collapsed his head in to his hands almost in defeat and one sharp burst of pain shot through me as I thought he was going to cry.

I found my hand creeping up to his. No, he would get freaked out by the cold. I pulled my sleeve over my hand and awkwardly placed it on his shoulder. I wanted to hug him, to touch his skin but I had to accept that that was the closest I was going to get to him. Edward gradually moved away from his hands and lifted his head up. His eyes landed on mine and his face got brighter. It was like his brightness was warding off the deep pain I felt inside of me. We gazed at each other, well I gazed at him - he just stared back - until I tore away. I didn't know why I did. I was just afraid getting too close to him. No, not afraid, _guilty_. I felt guilty for being selfish.

"Bella, would you like to stay for dinner tonight?" He offered - no trace of his nervousness left. I swallowed hard.

"Yes."

* * *

I didn't talk to Edward again until the end of the day. I had agreed to meet him outside of my English classroom.

"Please, Belliee." Emmett moaned as we got out of our seats.

"No, Emmett. And don't call me that." I snapped stubbornly. Edward was waiting against the wall outside.

"Emmett..." I warned too late under my breath. Emmett stepped in front of me, blocking my view. I stepped around him and stood by Edward who smiled at me before both of our expressions fell. I guessed that he was a little confused. I let out out a low, threatening growl under my breath that, to my utter distaste, made Emmett even chirpier.

"Hi, I'm Emmett. Bella's brother." He had a huge grin on his face. Edward looked a little taken back but smiled and nodded. I sent Emmett a fiery glare.

"By the way, I would appreciate it if you fed her at some point. She will say no, but our Mom always says she would rather us eat more than eat less. See you later, Bella." He walked away. I felt like dying. I hated him. I actually loathed my brother, I was so angry.

"I will rip you apart later. Just you wait." I muttered threateningly so that only he could hear. I heard him uncontrollably chuckle.

"Bella, are you okay?" Edward asked softly and my anger melted away. I got lost in his glimmering emerald eyes.

"I'm fine." I replied as we began walking. "Are you sure it's alright me coming over?" I didn't know why I asked, I was just second-guessing myself.

"Of course, Bella!" He laughed. "I asked you, remember?" We both had smiles stuck to our faces until we sat down in his volvo.

"Nice car." I commented as he started driving. It was similar to our own, I knew that it didn't come cheap. I started breathing quickly as I fluttered with nerves. I was going to be alone with him for hours.

Edward drove eagerly to the edge of town. I could tell that he liked to drive fast. We didn't talk at first in his car. I listened to his heart beating really fast and worried about how scared he was bringing me to his house. A thought out of nowhere occurred to me - fear... or attraction? Jasper always told us when humans reacted this way to us. Was Edward reacting this way to me? It was possible. But he didn't know me, then again, I already felt love for him and buried underneath the doubt I felt hopeful. I wanted him to, not only feel that way about me, but to be unafraid of me.

After a few minutes a thought occurred to me and I panicked a little.

"Edward. Please, don't pay any attention to my brother... He's just..." I shook my head hopelessly and I had to stop my anger from resurfacing.

"He's just what?" He grinned his crooked smile that made me have to recollect my thoughts before answering. He was utterly faultless.

"Umm... He's just trying to annoy me and embarrass me, I guess." I replied slowly. I was trying not to show my fear of the affect Emmett had had on Edward. But I was nervous.

"What? In front of me?" His expression quickly turned curious. He was right. I nodded, embarrassed, and I watched him trying to hide his smile.

"Why would he do that?" He wandered.

"Because I embarrass easily and he thinks it's funny." I finished the sentence grudgingly and decided to give some kind of pay back to Emmett later on.

"Do you not want to be embarrassed in front of me?" He questioned thoughtfully. My breath caught in my mouth, again, he was right on target.

"No." I told him shortly. We had arrived at his house that was as big as I imagined it. Not the same as ours of course, but the kind of house that made you know wealthy people lived there. I dropped out of his car and observed his beautiful house. It wasn't modern, it was more victorian, I knew that if I went there a lot I would have to show Esme sometime. She loved houses like that.

"Bella? Do you want come inside?" Edward was stood in front of the car. How could I have said no when he smiled at me like that? I tried not to walk too quickly as I followed him in to his house.

"My Dad's at work. No one's home." He explained as we entered. I took off my shoes and listened to the silence that flooded the house.

"Just you and your Dad here?" I asked too interestedly. I wanted to know about him so much and that was my chance to do it. I dropped my bag down and went in to the kitchen with him.

"Yeah. I don't have brothers or sisters... Or a Mom." He mumbled sadly.

"I'm sorry." I told him automatically as he got a glass of water.

"It's okay. My Dad works all the time so I get the house to myself, which is cool." He flashed a smile that didn't at all reach his eyes and I looked down worriedly. No wander he was popular; he must have been so lonely when he wasn't at school.

"Do you want a drink? Or something to eat?" Edward said in a way that sounded so sincerely caring, I almost felt guilty for saying no.

"No, thank you." I answered.

"Then come with me." He grinned and walked out of the kitchen. I watched him run up the stairs and followed hesitantly. It was all so much to take in.

His room was big, messy but clean. His walls were blue and covered in shelves full of books and music. I gasped - I hadn't been in a human room for a very long time. Everything smelled like him and I couldn't help but take a deep breath. My throat burned and my mind hazed over with the indescribable scent. I should have prepared myself for it more.

"Wow, you have so much music..." I gasped in wonderment as my eyes searched his room. He appeared in front of me and pressed play on his speakers. Soft classical music came on that I immediately recognised as Debussy... He never failed to surprise me. There was a long moment of silence as we listened to the soft piano music before Edward reached out and stopped it.

"Do you play piano?" I wandered.

"Yeah, I used to a lot but not so much now. My Dad doesn't really like it... I would love to learn more though." He sighed longingly to himself before sitting on his bed, I sat on the edge; trying not to get too comfortable.

"Anyway, tell me about yourself." He paused. "Your family, I mean, you're all so..." He searched for words in disbelief. I didn't want him to ask questions about me or my family. The more he asked the more I would have to lie and I hated lying. Especially to him.

"There's not much to say." I shrugged, trying to make him lose interest. He suddenly laughed.

"Oh come on, Bella. You've got to know how different you are to everyone else. The way you walk, talk..." He turned serious as he furrowed his eyebrows. It was way too dangerous. I looked down at my hands. I wished that Alice or Jasper or someone from my family were there to help me out, help me throw him off, because clearly he had been thinking about this.

I felt Edward shuffle closer to me and, with no fear at all, he traced lines on my right hand with his finger. I shuddered at the warmth and electricity that zapped through me. There was a voice in my head telling me it was too dangerous but it felt so good. I couldn't leave. I was glued to his bed.

"So cold." He mused. I stared up at him with my face controlled by shock. He wasn't disgusted or freaked out. He was just casually next to me like I was another human being. I wasn't sure if he was convinced I was human. I hoped he was, he was entirely comfortable, but he seemed to be like that anyway.

"What do you want to study?" I asked awkwardly. He snapped his hand away but didn't seem bothered by my question. He was the hard working, smart type. I didn't think he actually minded studying.

"Biology." I nodded and we got to work.


	8. Warning

Moonlight: Warning

We retrieved our bags and studied solidly for about forty minutes, we didn't talk unless he asked me if he could borrow something. I spent most of the time watching him concentrate on his work and I could tell when he was about to look up so he never caught me out. I noticed that when he concentrated his lips curved in to a little frown. I loved noticing things like that about him.

Edward didn't jump at all when my phone started ringing. Of course he didn't; he didn't do anything like other humans did. I walked over to the window and answered it.

"Hello, Alice." I spoke kindly. I felt Edward's eyes on my back.

"Bella, can he hear me?" I turned around worriedly. Alice had had a vision. Edward was sat up on the edge of his bed and he noticed my change of emotion. I judged it; he may have been able to hear us. Not clearly but he could hear me and possibly could pick up on a few things that Alice said. It was better to not risk it.

"Edward, do you mind if I step out of your room for a moment?" I asked nervously. I was so terrible at hiding things - I made a mental note to practice.

"Go ahead, Bella." He replied with that killer smile. I thought vampires had power over humans, not the other way around...

"Bella?" Alice urged and I quickly left the room. Edward laughed at me.

"He can't hear. Is everything okay?" I asked anxiously.

"I had a vision about Edward... He is going to really need you from now on, Bella, if you're not there... He won't get through it." I leant against the bannister so that I felt more steady.

"I'm listening."

* * *

Alice told me everything that she knew but it was hard because she only saw glimpses of what was going to happen. It all made me anxious and afraid but the last thing she said was the worst.

"Bella, he knows." I shot upright.

"WHAT?" I gasped almost too loudly. There was no way - I hadn't told him, no one had. I searched my mind for answers that I didn't have.

"He has wanted to know right from the start so he did some research-" She began explaining.

"Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell us?" I tried to sound calmer than I felt.

"I didn't think anything would come of it! And of course I told Carlisle. It was when he went to the reservation and talked to his friend..." I dropped the phone but managed to catch it just before it hit the ground. The reservation. The wolves. Our enemies. They must have guided him in the right direction.

"Oh my god... He knows. Alice, what should I do?" I panicked in a whisper. There was silence for a moment.

"He is deciding when to tell you. I am ninety-seven percent sure that he will do it today."

"Okay..." I tried to take in all the brand-new, life altering information. I felt so disorientated.

"Just let him tell you everything he knows. See what he thinks, what he wants to do and then decide what you want." She advised me. I smiled greatfully.

"Thanks Alice." I replied quietly.

"See you tonight! Good luck!" She chimed before the call went dead. Part of me wanted to run out of the house and pretend that I had never met Edward. But I couldn't. I loved him and he had a hard few days ahead of him. I almost felt like crying at what was going to happen. I strolled over to his door and took a deep breath before entering.

He was so deep in to his work that it took him a while to notice me in the room. I went to the window and studied what I saw. It was almost winter. The trees were running out of leaves to shed and there was a constant cool wind everywhere within at least a ten mile radius. I didn't feel the cold myself but I remembered what it felt like and automatically shuddered at the thought of it. It was then that I felt Edward's hand, soft and warm, on my shoulder. I slowly turned around to see his penetrating eyes looking back at me. Unhurriedly, he lifted his hand to my face, shaping his palm to my cheek. I leant in to him and closed my eyes contently.

"Beautiful..." He muttered, my eyes switched open and I stepped away. He had the tiniest smile on his face and I knew then that he was about to tell me everything.

"You have golden eyes. You have smooth, hard and pale-white skin. You're unlike anyone in the world, Bella." Edward whispered. I wanted to thank him, I wanted to say "Edward have you seen yourself? You are more breath-taking than anything that's ever existed" but I couldn't find the words. I couldn't get my lips to move. I just locked my eyes on him as he continued.

"You're eyes change color and you're skin is ice-cold... You never eat or drink anything and I've never seen you in the sunlight... You are fast and have quick reflexes. And sometimes you do things and see things that I miss, that everyone else apart from your family has missed... How old are you?" He looked in to my eyes and I tried to unfreeze my body. He had noticed more than I thought, more than any of us had thought. I remained silent for a moment.

"Eighteen." I told him as clearly as I could but my voice trembled. I turned away from him and faced the window. I couldn't look at him.

"How long have you been eighteen?" He asked slowly. I couldn't bring myself to be completely honest and open with him, as much as I wanted to be.

"A while." I whispered timidly. Another moment of unbearable silence filled the room.

"I know what you are." He raised his voice with confidence. I faced him and tried my hardest to keep my eyes glued to his.

"Say it." I demanded pathetically. I waited for him to answer, I wanted him to be wrong but I knew he was about to say the right thing.

"Vampire." He murmured without looking at me. He looked like he was in deep thought in which he was battling himself. I felt hollow. He hated me. He didn't want me. I breathed rapidly meanwhile he seemed absolutely okay.

"Aren't you afraid?" I demanded with desperation and anger. He looked at me kindly.

"No." He replied calmly and I knew it was the truth.

"Have you thought about my diet?" I pressed through gritted teeth. I wasn't angry with him, I was angry with the situation. The _wolves_.

"You won't hurt me. If you were going to hurt anyone, you would have done it long ago." He replied sincerely. He was speaking like he knew me, like he knew my kind. It was all I could do not to run away or break down. He kept me there. Now that he knew, there was no turning back. Now that I loved him, there was no going back.

I started sobbing hysterically, creating sounds that I had never heard before. I considered jumping out of his window as I stared at it distantly. I waited for Edward to run away. To finally break it to me that he hated me. That I was dangerous, weird and that he wanted nothing to do with me.

"Bella, what's wrong?" He shouted in panic like we weren't just talking about the fact that I was a vampire. Cautiously, he remained behind me.

"It's okay, Edward. I know you hate me and I know you don't want me! You _can't. _It's too dangerous! Walk away from me but please don't tell anyone..." I finished with a whisper and didn't even recognise the voice that created those words. I had never been in more pain, worry, fear and confusion. The angel face came in to my view and I focused in on his gloriousness. There were so many reasons to leave but one huge throbbing reason to stay - HIM. I finally understood what Alice meant on our first day at school; she had seen how much he was going to mean to me. She saw that he was my reason for everything that I wanted.

"Bella, do you honestly think that I would have been around you all of this time, if I was the type of person who would think those things now?" I watched his lips say the gentle words and let my lips form a tiny smile. His smile grew into the one that I loved more than any other. He was far too dazzling. My eyes acknowledged the time on the wall.

"Oh, Edward, you need to eat something." I gasped and grabbed his shoulder gently. I began dragging him to the kitchen and realised why Alice liked to do it so much - it felt good to be in control. He chuckled. I didn't know what to do with myself. I didn't know whether to pretend that nothing had happened or to talk it through with him. I ended up doing a messy combination of both.

"What would you like?" I asked him as we entered his kitchen

"Bella, this is my kitchen, _you're_ not supposed to offer _me_ anything." He laughed before getting a drink.

"Okay, it's just that, I can cook..." I replied with a shrug. He looked up at me.

"You, the vampire, can cook?" He repeated in shock. I smiled but felt guilty for liking the fact that he was comfortable around me.

"It's not hard and it helps that we are oven proof." I laughed. "What are you having?" I wandered as I watched him intently.

"Pasta." He replied and retrieved his small frown from earlier as he boiled it. He was very cautious around the hot water and the longer I watched him the more frustrated I got.

"Edward." I groaned and placed my hand over his on the pan handle. I took a moment to enjoy the feeling of his warm skin on mine.

"Please, let me do it." I spoke desperately. He held my gaze for a moment before reluctantly sitting down on the table near by. I took over and reached my hand in to the pan. Edward cried out and then stared in disbelief at my unharmed hand. I bit in to the slimy piece of pasta in disgust and determined that it was done. I removed it from my mouth and placed it in the trash. I decided to add something to it.

"It will be ready in a minute." I mumbled before working at vampire speed. I chopped up ingredients and threw them together, creating a sauce. I warmed it up and added it to the hot pasta before putting all of it in to a bowl. I added basil on top before serving it in front of him.

"Is that okay?" I checked and looked at his face for the first time in a few minutes. I had never seen anyone look so amazed. We stared at each other as I sat next to him. I waited for Edward to say or do something. After a moment, he tore away from my eyes and ate a mouthful of pasta.

"Bella, this is amazing!" He praised before eating all of it hurriedly. I was glad that he liked it. He washed up everything and then sighed contently. I stood up.

"So, what time is your Dad home?" I asked him then instantly regretted it. His face fell at the thought of him and I held back from asking him some newly formed questions that were added to the pile in my head.

"He is normally back at nine or ten, it depends what he does..." He murmured. His Dad would be back in a couple of hours and I knew that I had to leave. I really didn't want to though. I walked up to him hesitantly.

"I better go, Edward... I think everyone will be wandering where I am." I explained sadly and looked up at him. He reached for my hand and we held on to each other. There wasn't anything we needed to say; we both had questions for each other and we both wanted to stay together. I certainly wanted to stay with him and for the first time ever I was jealous of the fact that human's could sleep. I would be thinking about Edward al night.

"Do you need me to drive you?" He offered quietly. I wanted to say yes but I thought it would be better if I didn't. It was too soon for him to come to my house, what if Emmett decided to come out?

"No, I can run." I told him dismissively and he smiled suspiciously.

"You can run?" He grinned and I smiled sheepishly, nodding. My smile faded quickly and I sighed sadly.

"Thank you for having me here. I'll see you soon, I promise." I said softly. I didn't know why I promised it, it was more of a promise to myself that I wasn't going to miss him for very long.

"See you tomorrow, Bella." He replied in a similar tone. I squeezed his hand lightly before walking away. I gathered my things and was out of the door in one second. I knew that if I didn't leave quickly then I wouldn't have left at all. One thing was for sure; I wasn't going to last without him until tomorrow.


	9. I'm Here

Moonlight: I'm Here

I ran as fast as I could through the forest, trying to focus on everything in front of me rather than what I had left behind. It took all of my control to not turn back to Edward. Besides what was I going to do? Abruptly, I halted as a thought occurred to me. What _was_ I going to do? There was no danger of him finding out about me anymore because he knew. I would just be there with him and have a good time. I could have stayed there all night... Was this what Alice meant when she said he was going to need me?

I arrived at the house while still fighting with myself. Edward wouldn't want me in his room all night. Edward needed sleep; I was being selfish. I ran in to the house and went straight in to my familiar, open yet cosy, room. I changed in to more comfortable clothing; grey pants and a navy t-shirt. After washing my face, I went quickly to find Alice.

"Alice? Alice?" I demanded at her and Jasper's door. I began pounding with my fist before I realised that the wood was about to crack.

"Bella." Alice groaned as she opened the door. "Calm down, jeez. Come in." I walked in to the middle of her room.

"Where's Jasper? I haven't seen anyone besides..." I began then narrowed my eyes at the thought of the only vampire I had seen since the morning.

"Emmett." I muttered with hatred. "Where is he, Alice? I'm going to kill him." I announced determinedly.

"He's with Jaz outside, they're wrestling." She grinned.

"Do you want to come and watch me join in?" I smiled mischievously and she nodded before we went outside. I saw them immediately and targeted Emmett who was about to attack Jasper. Jasper looked at me and backed away from Emmett.

"Dude what the -" He began before seeing me charging at him. He grinned in anticipation and moved in to a ready position for my attack. I pounced on him, dodging his swing. He threw me to the ground and we rolled around and wrestled. It was great to release my anger. He kept trying to stop the fight but relentlessly I carried on attacking him. Eventually, he managed to pin me to the ground with my arms above my head. I glared at him.

"Thanks Bella." He grinned and pecked me on the cheek before getting up. He walked over to Jasper who gave him a high-five. I had done it to release my anger with him but Emmett liked the fight so I had to do something else to get back at him. Immediately, an idea came to my mind and a devilish smile crossed my face. He looked at the other two in confusion. Alice was beaming, at the vision of it, I guessed, and Jasper chuckled.

"Oh man, you are in for this one." He laughed to Emmett. I ran away. Emmett tried to pursue me but Jasper and Alice fought to hold him back. I headed for Rosalie and Emmett's room. Rosalie opened the door when she heard me outside.

"Rose, I'm going to pull a prank on Emmett. I won't touch any of your stuff, I promise." I spoke rapidly. She cracked in to a grin and willingly let me walk by.

"I wasn't here, I had nothing to do with it." She announced before winking at me and walking out. I looked around their beautiful room that was much like Alice's and Jasper's, as in Emmett didn't get much of a say either. More than Jasper though, I discovered long ago, as my eyes landed on a few items such as shelves of sport magazines. The room was so big and dramatic. My eyes found the closet and I walked in. Rosalie and Alice had the same size closets but Rosalie took up a lot more of hers. Emmett's section covered about a quarter of it which kind of made sense since Rose held on to clothes longer than Alice did.

I picked up all of Emmett's clothes that he wore the most - sweat pants, shirts and hoodies. Alice was always on his back about wearing the same things all the time. She said that they were old and dirty. So, I was going to get rid of all of them. It meant that I would definitely get pay back and he would be forced to go shopping Alice. It was also a present for Alice because she had been so great to me about Edward. When I thought about Edward a hole in my chest formed and the prank on Emmett fell away. I wanted Edward.

I started to tear up the clothes until there was a shredded mess on the floor. I took it one step farther and rearranged the torn pieces until the message on the floor read 'you're welcome'. I smiled proudly and left the room, shutting the door behind me. Unintentionally, I was visiting all of my families bedrooms that night as I appeared at Carlisle's and Esme's. I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" They both said. I entered and found them flicking through catalogues. Their room was different to the other two couples' rooms. It had Esme's softness and warmth and it had Carlisle's control and dignity. It had tones such as lavender and sky-blue embedded everywhere creating a calming atmosphere. It was very pretty.

"Hello, Bella." Esme beamed. "Are you here about Edward?" She guessed and put down the catalogue. I nodded solemnly and Carlisle gestured for me to sit. He shuffled upright.

"Okay, Bella. I have talked it over with Esme and we found that we are in no danger because Edward found out about us alone. As for him... I don't need to point out to you the dangers of you becoming close with him. But his life is at risk if the Volturi find out." He explained to me. A small amount of relief came from what he said. But Edward was in danger, which was something I had known all along. I was selfish - if I hadn't talked to him then he wouldn't have wanted to find out about us. Now he was in danger and it was my fault.

"We know you love him, Bella. And if he has the same feelings then it's really impossible for you to not get in to a relationship. Just be careful and don't forget that you are a vampire, more importantly, don't forget that he is a human." Esme warned me kindly. I nodded. They told me everything that I needed to know.

"I want to be with him. Even now, I miss him. I just want to be near him and to protect him." I mumbled. "Let's just see how it goes..." I said to myself.

"I can see that you won't forget he is a human." Carlisle smiled. "Don't interfere with his needs, they are much greater than ours. But, as long as no one finds out, you can be with him and just be you. Be careful and responsible, like you always are, and it will go smoothly." He assured me. I stood up and hugged the both of them. I could never have asked for better parents.

"I am going out tonight. Alice said he will need me in the next few days so I want to be around him now more than ever. Is that okay?" I asked from the middle of the room.

"That's probably smart, Bella." Esme smiled and they both nodded in agreement.

"By the way, I've pulled a prank on Emmett so if it sounds like something's wrong then it's probably-" I explained but it was too late.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS HAPPENED TO MY CLOTHES?" Emmett roared. Carlisle and Esme burst in to laughter.

"Got to go." I grinned before running like lightening out of the house.

"That was a mistake, Bella Cullen. A MISTAKE." Was the last thing that I heard from Emmett.

I was so happy that there was an easy route to Edward's house, a few miles away, on foot because I couldn't take my car. I looked at my phone and somehow the time read nine-forty-five pm. How had it gone so fast? Maybe I had taken longer to drag myself away from him than I thought... Edward's father was at home by that time - what would Edward be doing? Sleeping? Reading? Watching TV? Homework?

I reached his house and walked to side where his room was. Suddenly I remembered that I had no idea what I was doing. Going through his window was the first step since I couldn't exactly just walk in. But I was going to frighten him to death. I would be intruding on his privacy and he would be freaked out. Ignoring the doubts and fears I silently jumped up to his window, hoping that I wouldn't damage the house.

I peered through the glass. He was lying on his back, on his bed. He wasn't underneath the covers, he was just on top with his hands under his head staring up at the ceiling. He was wearing simple, dark baggy shorts that were like sweatpants. He wore a t-shirt that was such a light shade of purple that a human may perceive it as white. He was so shockingly good-looking in his casual clothes that for a fraction of a second I forgot that I was holding on to the house and almost fell. Was Edward missing me as much as I was missing him?

I stayed there for a couple of minutes and thought of ways to get his attention. I wanted to give him a bit of a warning, rather than just barging through his window and giving him a heart attack. I decided to tap. I tried to go for a tap that didn't make him think I was a ghost from a horror movie or something. I kept my head out of view and tapped once with my finger. I heard his breathing stop for a moment which meant that he had heard it. I did it again, this time his feet hit the floor but he hesitated. I tapped a few more times before he finally walked over to the window.

"Edward?" I called. He couldn't see me - I thought it would be the least scary if I talked to him first.

"Bella." He sounded relieved and happy. Maybe he did want me in his room...

"Open the window and step far back." I instructed him and heard his feet move. I could have opened it myself but it was easier if it was already open. In one, fluid motion I swung my body through the gap and landed in his room gently. I closed the window as quietly as I could and faced him.

"You're amazing." He grinned and I smiled. I was so happy to see him, he was safe and I didn't want to leave. Naturally, we moved closer to each other until we were about a foot apart. I loved the cosiness of his room, lit only by his lamp at his bedside.

"I'm sorry I came at short notice. I just wanted to see you..." I admitted. My hands automatically travelled to his and I held on to him tightly. I had to touch him, I had to know that he was there.

"Well, I'm glad you're here." He told me the perfect words that I always longed to hear from him. I gazed up at him and offered him the best smile that I could ever create.

"Me too." I agreed. Our eyes connected and his expression gradually turned more serious.

"I want to try something... Just stay very still." He informed me gently and I complied. He leaned his head forward and we both kept our feet rooted to the ground. My breathing ceased, for his safety, and time taunted me. We closed our eyes and his lips touched mine. His lips were soft and smooth and irresistible. It was quick, it wasn't so much a kiss but a test to see if we could be that close. We pulled our heads back and knew what we both wanted.

Edward and I never stopped looking at each other as he lifted his hands to my waist. The warmth hit me immediately and both of us breathed louder. I gazed in to the depth of his eyes. I brought my hands on to his arms and left a trail of shivers up to his shoulders with my fingers. My right hand pushed back a lock of his smooth, bronze hair. I smiled fondly and he smiled back at me. I leant up on my tip toes and found his lips. This time the kiss deepened and our lips curved around the shape of each other's. It was strong and passionate. I knew that I couldn't go too far so regretfully I pulled back. There was no confusion in his eyes because he knew I was being safe.

"I love you, Bella." He whispered. That was the best moment of my existence.

"I love you, Edward." I whispered back and both of our faces had huge smiled stuck to them. As gently as I could I wrapped my arms around his waist and nestled in to his warmth. _Don't forget you are a vampire._ I remembered Esme's words and held my breath. My throat scorched at being so close to his indescribable scent but it was nothing compared to the pain that I would feel if I wasn't with him. We hugged for a few seconds and then sat down on Edward's bed. I sat on the edge when Edward yanked me - of course, I let him - on to the bed and sat next to him with our backs against the wall. We held hands.

"How tired are you?" Was the first question that I asked. I didn't want to keep him up if he really needed sleep, especially because school was tomorrow.

"Not very. Are you tired?" He replied and a smile spread across my face in embarrassment.

"Umm, no. I don't sleep." I admitted. He laughed and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Ever?" He questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"No." I mumbled, shaking my head. I felt embarrassed when I told him about myself and what being a vampire meant.

"What do you do all the time?" He wandered curiously.

"Well, we all have hobbies that we get on with. It's like a normal family aside from a few exceptions, but..." I rambled. "It's not normal for my kind to live like this." I told him as I stared at the woodgrains on one of his shelves. He watched my face carefully.

"What are you looking at?" He mumbled softly and I looked up at him - I was glad that I was the vampire and not the human because then my cheeks would have been on fire.

"The woodgrains on your shelves." I spoke casually. He stared at me and I saw his face try to work out what I meant. I laughed.

"Edward, all my senses are heightened. There's more to us than just super strength and speed." I explained. He still looked puzzled so I kissed him quickly on the cheek and stood up in the middle of the room. This was a good time to explain things to him, I couldn't avoid it forever.

"Okay. Listen to me. My family and I, don't hurt people. We survive on the blood of animals, not humans. But it's like a human living on tofu - it keeps us strong but we are never fully satisfied when we... hunt. Our eyes go darker when we need to hunt... I just wanted you to know that." The words flooded out of my mouth and Edward listened to every single word. "We don't sleep, our heart's don't beat... We look human but we are not and deep down everybody's instincts know that we are dangerous." I reduced to a whisper and Edward looked worried. I thought for a moment.

"Except for you, Edward. You believe the lie so easily. Everything about me invites you in, my face, my voice, even my smell. I'm the perfect predator, I'm designed to kill. I'm a killer, Edward." I finished, letting my feeling spill out in front of him. I couldn't tell how upset I looked. Edward came rushing over to me and his arms were around my waist. I looked up at his eyes full of concern.

"Bella, you are not bad. Before I met you there was no one in my life that I cared about. I was alone, I've always been alone. You are the only one who has ever understood me. You are not bad, I know it. I love you." He assured me softly then kissed me on the lips. I held him close to me and kissed him back. My Edward, how was I ever going to live without him again?

I pulled away from him quickly when I heard a noise from the other side of his house.

"Bella?" Edward said when I walked over to the door. I held my finger over my lips to signal him to be quiet. Footsteps, had Edward's father heard us talking? I hoped that he was just going to bathroom. I froze. My throat set alight. Blood, there was blood somewhere. There wasn't anything wrong with Edward, was there? No, if it was that close I would have been in Canada by then. It took a lot of strength to stop my body from pursuing the delicious scent. The tenths of a second slipped by, the predator in me was frustrated and impatient.

"Edward. Get in to bed and pretend to be asleep." I ordered, almost too quick for him to understand but he did it, achingly slowly. I turned off the light and flitted to Edward's side and put my lips to his ear.

"I can see in the dark." I whispered reassuringly. I pressed my lips to his cheek for one whole second and disappeared out of his window, clinging to the tree outside. Two whole seconds passed before Edward's father entered the room. He held a bottle of beer but I knew he wasn't drunk. He stared at Edward, with tears in his eyes, for a moment. Then slowly left the room. Edward stood up immediately and turned on his light.

"Bella?" He called. I wanted to go to his voice but I couldn't move. How was I supposed to move? Edward's father had been shot.


End file.
